Near to You
by Court Jester 21
Summary: A peek into the Alicia/Peter/Will triangle, based on the events of Death of a Client. Finally updated!
1. Chapter 1

_I had to put something together in the aftermath of Sunday's episode. I'm looking to continue this with a few other chapters which I will hopefully find time to write soon. This first chapter is inspired by A Fine Frenzy's song "Near to You" and focuses on Alicia's thoughts as she dances with Peter. I know I'm ignoring the client part of the episode, but in the interest of getting this out to you quickly, I thought that'd be ok._

_I do not own "Near to You" or The Good Wife. I'm just having a little fun here, and dealing with all of those emotions from "Death of a Client"._

_He and I had something beautiful  
__But so disfunctional, it couldn't last_

Alicia tried to calm the thumping of her heart in her chest. This night had been too much. From the beginning, with the formal attire and the campaign pressure. She'd tried to take it all in stride, to come at it with a light hearted attitude and a lot of alchol, but even that hadn't been enough. No, something out there wanted to hurt her tonight. And whatever it was, it was coming at her with everything it could find to throw at her.

Eli was yammering on about something, while she tried to focus on dancing with Peter and wearing her "natural" smile. Her head was such a fog that it was taking all of her effort just to keep up with the music. The words she'd spoken to Will just kept repeating over and over in her head.

_I loved him so but I let him go  
'Cause I knew he'd never love me back_

She finally realized that she loved Will. It was different than her love for Peter, but she was in love with Will too. And yet, Will couldn't handle what her life had to throw at them. It was too much. It was too much for her, and she was used to it. What would it do to him, the bachelor adept at living his own life away from the drama of the press? No, she knew that he had feelings for her too, but she had to push all of that aside. If she had pulled him into her life, her true life, he would have ended up hating her for what it did to him. And that was why she'd had to let him go.

_Such pain as this_  
_Shouldn't have to be experienced_  
_I'm still reeling from the loss_  
_Still a little bit delirious_

All of the emotions bubbling beneath the surface had to be pushed away for tonight. She couldn't do this here, with all of Chicago watching. She had to ignore the sinking of her heart, the pain that seared her at the loss of any future with Will. So she danced, and she clung to Peter as a lifeline for the life she was supposed to lead.

_Near to you,  
I am healing_  
_But it's taking so long_  
_'Cause though he's gone_  
_And you are wonderful_  
_It's hard to move on_  
_Yet, I'm better near to you._

Peter was the safe choice. The closer she got to Peter, the more she would forget about missing Will, right? Isn't that how it should work? But she knew in her head that she should be with Peter. It was better for both of their careers. It was best for their children. It only made sense. And that was their guide these days, things that made sense.

She'd told Grace that she loved Peter, and she did. She loved him for what he'd done when she got pregnant. She loved him for loving her children dearly all of these years. She loved him for providing a home and a family for her and her children. She loved him for those early years, before careers and scandals had destroyed their life together. But she didn't love him the way she loved Will. She couldn't trust him with her heart. Not again.

She couldn't trust Peter with her heart and she couldn't trust Will with the drama of her life. Rock. Alicia. Hard place.

_You and I have something different_  
_And I'm enjoying it cautiously_  
_I'm battle scarred, I am working oh so hard_  
_To get back to who I used to be_

Peter was falling more into her graces these days. He was doing his best to cautiously rebuild their relationship. She knew it was all he could do. She couldn't expect more of him than that. After all they'd been through together, she had learned him so well and she knew that he was doing all he could for her. He didn't know that he wasn't Will and he never would be. He didn't need to know that. So she held to him, pressing her cheek against his and fell into a determination to make the best of this life she found herself in.

_He's disappearing_  
_Fading steadily_  
_And I'm so close to being yours_  
_Won't you stay with me?_


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm heading off on a tangent here...who would like to join me?_

_These aren't my peeps. I don't claim to own them, just play with them. Think of it as stuffing them into the microwave to watch them blow up. Ok, maybe not the best analogy, but you get it, right?_

Will sat, swirling his drink mindlessly as the music droned on in the background. He was trying to avoid gazing in Alicia's direction, but he wasn't entirely successful.

He had entered the party behind her, making up a lame excuse for letting her go in ahead. Coming back to the party, he'd gone straight to the bar and sank into a chair in a covert corner of the room. He hoped to avoid any unnecessary conversation until it was late enough that he could leave without invoking Diane's suspicions. Until then, he would drink.

Alicia was sitting on the stairs, looking beautiful as she hugged a girl. From here, he couldn't see the girl, but he assumed it was her daughter. He lifted the glass to his lips to take a long swill, and searched the room for another subject to observe as he lowered the glass back to his lap. Nothing caught his eye. Nothing was as beautiful as she was.

Now she stood arm in arm with a woman who looked familiar. It was her mother, he realized after a second. She looked upset, though he couldn't see her face clearly. He'd learned to read her delicate body language long ago and her dress revealed the tense muscles of her upper back.

Another swallow, another glance around the room. This time, he purposefully looked for Diane's royal blue attire. Not that he wanted to talk to her. He didn't want to talk to anyone. He just needed a purpose.

Diane was not within his line of sight at the moment, but as he searched the room again, his eyes landed on Alicia in Peter's arms on the dance floor.

Nausea struck him. He needed to get out of here.

Finishing his drink, he was about to head back to the bar and find an even more secretive place to wait out the end of the party, but she stopped him in his tracks. He couldn't help but stare at her, even in the arms of another man. She was gorgeous, all dolled up for the special occasion. She'd been gorgeous when she was teasing him back at the police station. If only he could rewind. If only he had taken her in his arms when she'd asked if they had been good together.

He forced his gaze away from her. She belonged to Peter. She'd given herself to Peter, not to him. He needed to get over it, but had no idea if it was even possible. He allowed himself one last look at her, drinking her in to savor later, before he stood to walk away.

"Mr. Gardner?" he heard a young voice behind him.

"Yes," he answered, turning around to stare into a younger version of Alicia's face. He'd never met her daughter, but he did recognize her from the photos he'd seen in Alicia's apartment and in her office.

"You're Will Gardner?" she asked again.

"I am," he said, wondering where this was going.

"You knew my mom in law school? Before she was married?" the girl asked, seeming a bit unsure and yet proceeding with her questions.

"Yes, I did," Will answered. He sure didn't want to go down that road again. Let's not think about Georgetown, he wanted to say to her. If this was some school project, he was going to hunt down that teacher for revenge.

Zach appeared at his sister's side and tried to pull her away. "Grace, what are you doing?" her brother asked her, not acknowledging Will at all.

Grace shook off her brother's grasp as she asked, "Were you in love with her?"

Will drew in a sharp breath. The young girl had caught him off guard. What was this? What was she getting at?

His brain couldn't manufacture an appropriate answer. _Yes, but I was an idiot and never told her_, probably wouldn't cut it in this case. He stared dumbly at the two teenagers for a moment, while Zach continued to try to get Grace to walk away.

"I'm sorry, my sister isn't herself tonight," Zach said, trying to cover for Grace's behavior.

"Zach, stop," Grace complained, shaking him off once again. She took a couple of steps toward Will as she said, "Did you know that my mom was pregnant when she married my dad?"

Will couldn't keep his eyes away from Alicia in that moment. She was pregnant? He hadn't known. He'd had no idea. He'd attributed their quick marriage to her being head over heels for the sleezebag. He looked back to the two kids standing in front of him. He had to get out of here. He shouldn't have even come back to the party.

"No, I didn't," he said succinctly. "Excuse me," he spoke quietly as he walked back toward the bar.

He needed to find Diane and make some excuse for leaving early. Looking around, he still didn't see her. Did Eli have her cornered somewhere discussing the politics of her new career move? He was found her number in his phone, pressed send and was raising the phone to her ear when he saw Zach approaching him. He heard Diane answer just before he hung up.

"What's up?" he asked the teenage boy, who looked a bit puzzled.

"I'm just wondering something. Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Zach asked sheepishly.

"Umm, I guess not," Will's answer was unsure. He certainly didn't want to talk to any more underage Florricks this evening, but how could he say no?

Zach swallowed, stalling for time and dreading even asking this question. Will saw his mother in Zach's expression and his heart softened toward the boy. "Is there any chance that you're my dad?" Zach asked cautiously.

Will was taken aback. This was definitely not what he'd expected. "No," he answered quickly. "No, your mom and I weren't..." he wasn't sure how to phrase this. This kid had to be old enough to know about the birds and the bees, but how much should he say to him? "...together... um... like that..." his words trailed off awkwardly, and he noticed the color rising in Zach's cheeks.

"Hey, I'm sorry, but I just had to ask. The way you ran off back there, I thought maybe..." Zach took his own awkward moment before wrapping up their inept interaction. "I'm so sorry. I hope you have a nice night." Zach spun on his heel and turned back to where is his sister waited.

Will stood, frozen for a moment, unable to move from the shock of this evening. Finally, he turned towards the exit. He sent Diane a text on his way out the door and never looked back.


	3. Chapter 3

_We're building toward a more exciting chapter 4 here, so bear with me in the meantime and enjoy the ride!_

_Nope, I don't own 'em, I just make stuff up about 'em. It's ok, they're not real people anyway._

Alicia shut the door to her room with a sigh of relief. She let the layers of her carefully composed expression fall away as she found herself finally alone. She'd taken her mother back to her hotel, not risking bringing her back to get her car and letting her drive after all of the free drinks at the party. She'd sent the kids to bed and downed a glass of wine before escaping to solitude.

She set her sleek black gloves on her vanity table as she reached up to unclasp her earrings and dropped them into their home in her jewelry box. The bracelet soon followed and Alicia began pulling pins out of her hair as she walked toward the bathroom to turn on the shower.

Standing in front of the mirror, she shook out her curls, using her fingers to search blindly for any stubborn pins. When she reached for the zipper of her dress, she turned away from the mirror, still disliking her naked reflection after all this time. She left the dress to pool on the cold tile as she shed her undergarments and stepped into the steaming shower.

After a day like this one, she needed a shower. She needed to wash away the hairspray and the glamor that made her the State's Attorney's wife tonight. She needed to cleanse the lies and shame and humiliation of the evening away. She needed to drop every single pretense. When she crawled between the sheets, she just wanted to be Alicia.

The night replayed like a movie in her mind as she shampooed away the evidence of her updo. Grace's compliments in the kitchen before she left. Zach's decision about Neesa that she hoped was his own. Peter's strapping appearance at the party. Eli's stressed instructional moment. The awkward silence when Will joined the trio.

She cringed when she thought about Will walking up to her with Peter and Eli, two important people in her life that knew about her time with Will. With anyone else she could have faked it. With any other group of people, the irony would have been lost and they would have muddled through the interaction. But that wasn't what happened. What had possessed Will to choose that moment anyway? Did he not understand the awkward place they were all in?

She shook her head as she rinsed away the last of the suds and reached for her bottle of conditioner. Her conversation with Kresteva had been strange, but oddly less difficult than her moments with Maddie had been. The moment the officer pulled her away, she'd been afraid for her kids, showing her vulnerabilities in a way that the officer obviously wasn't afraid to extort.

Seeing her client killed had been hard. She'd never watched anyone she knew be murdered before, video or no video. She'd grown to like Matthew a bit, and his appointments with her had become less frequent since his confession about her. Sweeney was her least favorite of clients and she didn't want him to be killed. Certainly she wouldn't have wanted that for Matthew.

She wondered if he'd been ready to die. Did he have things in order? Did he have regrets about his life? Were there wrongs he wanted to undo before he died? Did he have a bucket list? Yes, he'd been an odd man, but surely humanity lie somewhere beneath all those conspiracy theories.

She knew there would be more work to be done for him, or actually his estate. She wouldn't be finished yet and there might be more to learn about him in death than there had been in life.

She was finished with her hair and began to lather her body as her thoughts turned to Laura. Sweet Laura, coming to her friend to ask advice about a guy, innocently seeking reassurance. Alicia hoped she'd said the right things to her. She hoped her words wouldn't come back to bite her.

Will was stuck, she'd thought. Vascillating between moving on and holding back, sending Laura mixed signals. She'd needed to tell him to move on. Every word spoken replayed in her head. It was painful to replay. It had been painful enough the first time around, but now her introspection lended to deeper hurt, deeper sorrow at the loss of something she'd never really had to begin with.

She chastised herself as she found tears rolling down her cheeks. Angrily, she willed them away and turned the shower to a warmer temperature. Hot water flowed over her, as if to slough off the dead parts of her. She imagined pieces of herself flowing away, down the drain, underneath the streets of Chicago. She welcomed it. She wanted to feel different. She didn't want to feel like this.

She placed her head directly under the shower head's flow, feeling the cascade of water on her scalp, her face, her shoulders. Her ears filled with water, blocking out the outside world. Her face dripped but she let it go. It was only a moment. She turned her face upward, to take the blow of the water directly, before stepping away and drying her face.

Again, she bumped the shower gauge up and felt the scalding water on her skin. This pain would wash away her old pains. It would sanitize her. This would be good for her. She braced her arms against the glass walls and let the water fall on her back and her neck, branding her with newness. She didn't think. She didn't want to think. For right now, she would just feel.

When the water turned cooler, she shut off the flow and stepped out to find comfort in a soft towel. Wrapping the towel around her body, she was reminded of her mother's admission to her children tonight. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at her mother's interference. Her mom had never known how to be appropriate. She'd never known how to hold back, how to reserve, how to protect.

Tomorrow, she'd talk with her mom again. She talk to Zach, she'd check back in with Grace. She'd tell Peter the latest of Veronica's shortcomings.

Tomorrow. Tonight was done.

The bathroom had become so steamy that it was difficult to dry herself in the humidity. She stepped out into the contrasting chill of her bedroom, dressing herself in a long slip before retiring to her bed. Her damp hair clumped together on her pillow. She would dry and style it in the morning. Tonight was done. She forced her muscles to relax and waited for sleep to come.


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm exploring a little A/U here, and I hope you'll join me. I'll have to figure out how to write the next chapter, so it might take me a little longer to update. Enjoy!_

_Clearly, these are not my characters. Clearly, I don't own anything but an active imagination that keeps me up too late at night. Just so we're clear. Crystal?_

Will heard the chirping of his cell phone through a haze of sleep. He groaned, realizing that it was not a dream, as he blindly reached for the offending phone. He peeled his eyes open just enough to read Alicia's name on the screen. He quickly punched the button to answer the call and brought the phone to his ear.

"Alicia? What's up?" he asked, trying to hide the sleep in his voice.

"Mr. Gardner? It's me, Grace Florrick," the other voice on the phone replied.

"Grace?" he asked in a panic. It had been a couple of days since he'd met Alicia's daughter at the party. Why would she be calling him now? "Is everything alright?" His fear for Alicia was rising in his chest as he awaited the girl's response.

"Yes, I just borrowed my mom's phone."

Will felt a slight relief at her answer, but was still unsure why he was talking to Alicia's daughter before 6 am. "Ok," he replied, his answer more of a question than a statement.

"Well, my brother and I have been talking, and we think..." she trailed off, not sure how to continue. "It just seems weird to us. You and Mom had something back then, we know that much. Then she up and marries Dad, and then when everything happened, you give her a job when no one else will. She talks about you a lot, you know. We don't want to be the reason that you guys never had a chance."

Will let out the breath he'd been holding. This wasn't happening. He had to be asleep, right? Any minute now, he'd wake up alone in his bed and start his day.

He gripped the phone tighter to convince himself it was really there. "Grace," he said, with no idea how to finish the sentence. He paced his bedroom, searching his carpet for a response. "Grace, there are a lot of issues between me and your mom," he said, hoping that his vague answer would assuage her curiosity.

He was not so lucky. When she continued to press the issue, he smiled slightly, reminded that she was Alicia's daughter after all.

"But have you ever talked about it? You should talk things out with her. Let her know that you know why she had to get married. Maybe you guys can start over." Grace's tone was hopeful in a way that Will didn't understand. Alicia had pushed him away because she wanted to put her family first. Grace was now suggesting an end to her parent's marriage. It didn't make sense to him.

"Grace, why are you doing this?" he asked, purposefully avoiding her suggestion.

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. He overheard some whispering, and came to understand that Zach was there as well, listening in on the conversation. "Mom hasn't been happy in a long time. We just want to see her happy again," Grace finally said, her emotion coming through in her voice. "If that means that you're in the picture, we're fine with that."

She was her mother's daughter. Will had always assumed from what little he gleaned from Alicia about her children that Zach was the one she understood, and Grace was the mystery. But from what he could see, Grace was very much like her mother. Either Alicia underestimated her, or she was truly blind to the similarities between them.

Will's sigh was audible on the Florrick end of the call, as he contemplated what to say next. He had to be sure they were on board with this. If he started this, and they weren't committed to following through, it would crush Alicia. It would crush him. "Ok, let's talk about a hypothetical situation here. Do you know what that is?"

"Yes," Grace replied.

"Good. IF your mom and I talk, and IF we decide to pursue something, you know what that would probably mean, right?" Will waited patiently for a response.

"Yes," she said, fighting back tears. Will said nothing, not wanting to be the one to confirm the girl's fears.

There was a shuffle on the other end of the phone, and then a male voice entered Will's ear. Zach.

"We've known they might get a divorce for a long time. We don't want them to stay together just for us. We'll be grown up and gone soon, and they'll have their lives back. Things will never go back to the way they were before, but if there's a chance that Mom could be happy, we don't want her to miss it."

Will admired the older boy's maturity and astuteness. He didn't think he'd been nearly that mature at Zach's age, but then again, he hadn't had the stress in his life that Zach had experienced either.

"Ok," Will said in acceptance of their proposal.

"Ok," Zach replied.

A dead silence hung on the phone for a moment. Will heard Grace's voice in the background, not so discreetly telling her brother to ask Will over tonight.

"Can you come over tonight, maybe about 8:00?" Zach asked.

Will thought for a moment. He was really going to do this? He was really going to do this.

"I'll be there," Will replied.

"Ok, then," Zach said, his tone revealing the unseen smile on his face.

"Ok, then," Will said awkwardly. He'd have to get better at this teenage thing if he was going to be around them more. "Bye, Zach," he said, just before ending the call.

He sighed again, walked into his bathroom and placed his palms down on the counter. He leaned his weight into the countertop as he stared at his reflection. This was going to be a long, long day.


	5. Chapter 5

_Remember that this story is taking place in the days after Death of a Client. There's been no request to renew the vows here!_

_I __had this finished awhile ago, and I planned to come back and clean it up and completely forgot about it. I was checking in on my stories yesterday, and was surprised to find I hadn't put this up yet. Sorry for the delay, 100% my fault. Hope you enjoy!_

_These characters don't belong to me. If they did, I'd let them have fun._

Alicia forced her key into the door and turned the knob. With a sigh, she dropped her bag and her coat into their designated homes in the entryway. Before she could even look back up, she felt the presence of two eager teenagers. Meeting their faces, she could tell something was up.

She wasn't able to form a question before Grace spoke. "Will is waiting for you," she said, unable to contain her smile.

"What? Here?" she asked in ill-concealed shock, unable to consider that he might be in earshot.

Both young faces nodded at her, still beaming. "Ok, what is going on here?" she whispered, trying to get the real story before she faced Will.

Zach and Grace looked at each other, speechless. Grace had been roaring into action at every step of this plan, but when it came to facing her mother's anger, she shrunk back. Zach rolled his eyes and stepped up to be the big brother. He was opening his mouth to explain when Will came around the corner from the living room.

"Alicia, don't lay into them," he said calmly.

Alicia looked up at him in surprise. What was he doing here, in her apartment, counseling her on how to parent her own children?

In shock, she took a step back towards the door. "What is going on here?" she repeated her question, looking between the three of them.

After the kids looked away in silence, Will spoke up. "Zach and Grace invited me over. They thought we should talk," Will said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders to illustrate that it wasn't a big deal.

Alicia's head snapped over to her kids. "You did what?" she asked them, her anger evident in her tone.

Finally Grace raised her eyes to her mother's. "I borrowed your phone while you were in the shower this morning. I called Will, then put it back so you wouldn't know," she confessed. Her eyes showed a hint of remorse and then she continued. "Mom, we just want you to be happy, ok?" Grace hugged her mother and then turned and walked away quietly. Zach followed his sister and a few seconds later they heard two bedroom doors close.

Alicia glanced at Will, still in shock at the situation she was standing in. "What did they tell you to get you to come here?" Alicia asked incredulously.

Will released a slight chuckle. "What, is it so hard to believe that I'd want to see you?" His eyes sparkled at her in jest. He had been nervous waiting for her to come home, but once he had stepped in to rescue the kids everything just felt natural. "Come on, let's sit down," he suggested, side stepping her question for a second.

Will stepped into the living room, intending to lead her back to the couch where he'd sat to wait for her. She shook her head and motioned for him to follow her into the kitchen. It was the safest option.

Her gesture indicated that he should have a seat on one of the stools while she walked around to the other side of the kitchen island to face him. The distance between them made her feel better. "They'll be listening at Zach's door," she explained quietly. "If we talk in here, it will be harder for them to hear us."

She leaned against the counter, remembering the last time she had a tense discussion like this one in this kitchen. It was Peter across the countertop from her that night. And they'd been fighting about Will. Alicia shook her head to clear that line of thought from her mind.

"So what's going on?" she asked, slightly frustrated by being kept in the dark.

Will paused. He stared at his hands, folded on the countertop in front of him. He wished he had something to hold onto. He noticed that she hadn't offered him a drink. There was no invitation to stay, to socialize. _State your business and get out,_ she might as well have said.

He lifted his face to gaze at her a moment and then he said, "You were pregnant when you married Peter." It wasn't a question. It wasn't hesitant. It was a statement, which he delivered with a resigned certainty.

He watched her face fall apart as the realization of the meaning behind his words hit her. "They called you to tell you that?" she asked, completely shocked once again.

"No," he stated, his tone very factual. "Actually, Grace told me that at the party the other night. They called this morning to say that they wanted us to talk. That they wanted you to be happy. No matter what that means." As he finished, his face relaxed. He didn't smile, and he didn't dare let a hope rise in his chest. He was waiting to see where this would lead.

Alicia's eyes turned in the direction of her children's rooms. She hadn't known that they were capable of that maturity. She always thought they were like she had been at their age, focused on themselves and looking for a way to get their parents back together. She lifted her hand to her lips as she processed all of this new information that was floating through her head.

Will interrupted her reverie with his own sensibilities. "Alicia, I can't help but wonder what would have happened if you hadn't been pregnant. Would you have married him if you hadn't gotten pregnant?"

Alicia closed her eyes, resolving not to lose it. This was the conversation she'd never wanted to have. "I don't know," she replied defensively, lowering her voice as she continued. "But I did get pregnant, and it's all in the past now."

"Ok," Will said, leaning away from her, "fair enough." He was frustrated with her determination for their past to remain shrouded in mystery. "But I'm here now," he looked at her with a fierce purpose, "I'm standing in front of you, Alicia. All these years, I thought you were in love with him, and I-"

"Please don't, Will," she whispered, cutting him off with a look of fear in her eyes.

Will sighed and let his shoulders fall. When he lifted his eyes back to meet hers, she could see the pain written there as he asked, "Why not?"

"Because it's just too complicated," she said, her tone resigned to her fate.

"What are you hiding behind, Alicia? Your kids aren't an obstacle anymore. I know we still work together, but I'm not your boss anymore. The election will be over soon. So what is it?" Will's tone revealed frustration at her indecision.

"It's not that simple, Will. There's still the press and there will still be issues at work. I do still have kids to raise and technically, I am still married."

"Are you in love with him?" Will asked quietly with his eyes averted from hers. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear her answer.

"I'm -" she stopped abruptly when she met his eyes. She looked away, knowing she couldn't stand to lie to him. She was lying to the world these days, it came second nature to her now. "I'm not sure of anything these days," she admitted flippantly. "I need some time to think, to sort things out. I just don't know when everything got so out of control." She dropped her face into her hands, burying her fingers into her hair, overwhelmed by the moment.

Will nodded silently and then crept to her side. She was surprised to be looking up at him when she raised her head from her hands. "Alicia, take your time. This isn't an ultimatum." His voice was gentle as he spoke, more gentle than she had ever heard him speak before. "But I want you to know that if you're ever ready to face the press and Diane and the partners and everyone standing in our way, I'll be there to fight beside you. There will probably always be something standing in our way. I haven't stood up for us in the past, Alicia, but I will in the future if need be. I've been in love with you for 20 years and I'm finished being a coward about it. I will do whatever it takes to make us work, if you want there to be an us. You take the time you need, but I think this is a decision you need to make with your heart, not your head." He took her face in his hands and gently kissed her on the forehead before walking out of her apartment without another word.

Alicia sat, frozen with the shock of Will's revelation. Had Will said love? Loved? For 20 years? Alicia felt her way around the counter to sit down in the seat that Will had vacated moments before. She just sat, stunned as she tried to digest what she'd just heard.


End file.
